10 things about bestsellers

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In "The Da Vinci Code" and other Dan Brown novels, characters are compelled to unravel mysteries at a frenetic pace. The same thing happened to Brown as a child. On Christmas and his birthdays, his parents hid his gifts, requiring him to solve puzzles and riddles to find the presents.

Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, wrote recently that unidentified "people in the White House ... objected to giving the author J.K. Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft."

The book business is in the midst of an online price war over bestsellers, with Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target trying to undercut each other and alarming the entire industry. Among the books they're fighting over is Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue," which comes out Tuesday. Here are 10 chapters about top-selling books and authors. --Mark Jacob